Feeding mechanism for horseshoe-nail machines



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shet 1.

w. w. MINER. FEEDING MECHANISM FOR HORSESHOE NAIL MACHINES.

No. 490,397. Patented Jan. 24, 189 3.

UIP' l lllllllllllllllm l lll ""Wl 2 Sheets-Sheet 2;

(-No Model.)

w. w. MINER. PEEDING MEGHANISM FOR HORSESHOE NAIL' MACHINES. No.490,397.

Patented Jan. 24, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

WILLIAM WV. MINER, OF NEW HAVEN, ASSIGNOR TO THE NEW PROCESS NAILCOMPANY, OF TORRINGTON, CONNECTICUT.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR HORSESHOE-NAIL MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 490,397, dated January24, 1893.

Application filed June 14,1892. Serial No. 436,678. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAMIV. MINER, of New Haven, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Feeding Mechanism for Horseshoe-Nail Machines; and

I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to an improvement in feeding mechanism for horseshoe nail machines the objectbeing to provide mechanism forautomatically feeding horse shoe nail blanks to flattening dies and forautomatically removing the blanks from the dies after the blanks havebeen flattened.

With these objects in view the invention consists in certain features ofconstruction and combinations of parts as will be hereinafter describedand pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of apower press provided with my improved feeding attachment. Fig. 2 is aplan view of the feeding mechanism. Fig. 3 is an end view of the same.Fig. 4: is a plan view of the lower die. Fig. 5 is a View in sideelevation of the horse shoe nail blank. Fig. 6 isa cross section takenthrough the head of the blank. Fig. 7 is a cross section of the shank ofthe blank. Fig. 8 is a view in side elevation of the nail and Fig. 9 isan edge View of the same. Fig. 10 isadetached view in perspective of thewedge shaped plunger on the upper die in engagement with spring fingers.

A represents the frame of any suitable construction of press.

B is the upper and movable die, and C is the main shaft.

The mechanism for transmitting motion from the main shaft to the diebeing old and well known needs no special description.

To the main shaft O is secured a beveled gear a which meshes with abevel gear I) on the shaft C which latteris supported in similar bracketbearings A A The lower end of shaft C has secured thereto a bevel gear 0which meshes with a bevel geard on the shaft D which is supported in thebearing (1. A gear wheel D on the outer end of shaftD meshes with a gearwheel D on the feeding screw E the outer end of which is supported onthe set screw E which is mounted in the bracket E By means of the setscrew the feeding screw may belongitudinally adjusted. Screw threads emay be of any desired width or angle of inclination, and within thegroove between the threads are placed the horse shoe nail blanks F,which are of the form illustrated in Fig. 5. The headsfof the blanks areplaced between the feed screw and the flange or ledge G, which is fixedparallel to the screw and is of such height as to form a guide andretain the blanks in engagement with the feed screw.

H represents the lower and stationary die.

Fig. 4 illustrates a plan view of the die while it is shown in endelevation in Fig. 3.

Die H consists of the central portion h and end pieces h, 72. whichlatter may be made in separate pieces or may be made integral with asupporting block and the central portion h removably secured betweenthem. The central portion h and end pieces 72., k form a cavity I whichextends the entire width of the die. The head of the blank is receivedon the die so that the head will rest against the end piece h, while thepointed end of the shank will rest upon the beveled face 1' formed onthe end piece 72 J represents an oscillating spring arm which is pivotedon the bolt J. This arm comprises the two spring fingers K K which areof such length that they will readily yield and on the release ofpressure will resume their original position. The free ends of fingers KK rest upon or in close contact with the die H, and together form a sortof guide or receptacle into which the nail blank is fed by the screw,and by which the blank is held in place on the die while the blank isbeing flattened.

L is a spiral spring one end of which is secured to the frame while theother end is attached to the finger K and serves to pull the lattersnugly against the end} of the frameL in which the feed screw ismounted. Fingers K K are constructed with the slots Z, Z which areadapted to receive a wedge shaped plunger M associated with the upperdie. A set screw M serves as an adjustable stop for the spring arm.

N represents a sliding bar supported in suitable guides. One end of thebar is provided TCO with an anti-friction roller 11 which is engaged bya face cam N on the gear wheel D while a spiral spring secured at oneend to the pin n fixed to the frame and at its other end to a pin 01attached to the sliding barN serves to retain the latter in a positionto be actuated by the face cam. The outer end N of the sliding barengages the spring arm J and hence when the bar is acted upon by theface cam, it will move the spring arm and cause its fingers K K to sweepacross the die. An inclined shelf 0 is adjustably secured to the frameand serves to receive the flattened blanks and guide them into anysuitable receptacle.

I will now briefly describe the operation of my improved feedingmechanism. Horse shoe nail blanks are placed in the grooves of the feedscrew as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. They may be fed into thesegrooves automatically by any suitably contrived mechanism, or they maybe placed therein by an attendant. The feed screw as it revolves carriesforward and deposits upon the die H one of the blanks which drops intothe guide or holder formed by the two spring fingers and is therebyretained against displacement. The nail blank rests upon the die withits head abutting against the end piece h and its point resting upon thebeveled face i. The upper die B as it is forced downwardly against theblank serves to flatten it on its opposite sides and to transform theblank into a completed nail having a flattened head, shank and beveledpoint as illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9. Then the die B comes in contactwith the blank the wedge shaped plunger M enters the slots in the springfingers and spreads them sufficiently to accommodate the increased widthof the blank due to its being flattened. By thus allowing the blank tospread laterally without confining it at its edges, the completed nailis formed with smooth rounded edges throughout its length which featuregives its a highly finished appearance. hen the die B has moved upwardlysufficiently to clear the spring fingers, the face cam on gear wheelDwill engage the sliding bar N and move itlongitudinally and cause it toforce the spring fingers outwardly and sweep the flattened blank 06 fromthe die and onto the inclined shelfO from which it falls into anysuitable receptacle. The instant the blank has been swept from the die,the face cam will have passed out of contact with the sliding bar andallow the spring to retract it while the spring L will retract thespring arm so thatit willbein proper adjustment to receive the nextsucceeding blank in the feed screw. The spring arms do not serve tograsp the blank, but operate simply as guides or as a holder to retainthe blank on the die while it is being pressed and flattened and then toremove it from the die.

It is obvious that the die may be made of any desired form and may bewidely varied in its construction, and further that the cletails ofconstruction of the various parts of my improved feeding device may bevaried without departing from the spirit of the invention, and hence Iwould have it understood that I do not restrict my invention to theprecise construction and arrangement of parts shown and described, but,

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters- Patent, is:

1. The combination with dies for flattening horse-shoe nail blanksthroughout their entire length, of yielding fingers or guides locatedbetween the dies and serving as lateral guides for the blank while it isbeing flattened, said fingers being of less thickness than that of theflattened blank, and means for actuating said fingers and causing themto remove the blank from the (lie, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with dies for flattening horse-shoe nail blanks, of afeed screw for feeding the blanks to the dies, yielding fingers orguides located upon the lower die and parallel therewith said fingers orguides adapted to serve as lateral guides for the blank throughout itslength and retain it in position while being flattened, substantially asset forth.

3. The combination with dies for flattening horse-shoe nail blanks, ofspring fingers located upon the lower die and constructed to hold theblank in position While being subjected to the action of the upper die,and means for separating the fingers as the blank is flattened,substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with dies for flattening horse-shoe nails, of anoscillating arm provided with yielding fingers which rest upon the lowerdie and are parallel therewith, said fingers serving as lateral guidesfor a blank while being flattened, and means for automatically actuatingsaid arm and removing the flattened blank from the die, substantially asset forth.

5. The combination with two flattening dies, of yielding fingers locatedbetween the dies and serving as lateral guides for the blank while beingflattened; means for automatically feeding the blanks upon the lower dieand into the space formed between said fingers and means forautomatically actuating said fingers and sweeping the blank off from thedie, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM WV. MINER.

XVitnesses:

CHAS. L. McNEIL, J. EVERETT ALDEN.

IIO

